Durrës - definition of Durrës by The Free Dictionary Durrës - definition of Durrës by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Dur·rës (do͝or′əs) A city of western Albania on the Adriatic Sea. Founded as a Greek colony c. 625 bc, it is the country's chief seaport. Durrës (ˈdurrəs) n (Placename) a port in W Albania, on the Adriatic. Pop: 114 000 (2003 est). Italian name: Duraz Ancient names: Epidamnus or Dyrrachium Dur•rës a seaport in W Albania, on the Adriatic: important ancient city. 217,000. Italian, Durazzo. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Durazzo Albania , Republic of Albania - a republic in southeastern Europe on the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content .

Link to this page: Copyright © 2003-2017 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Durres, the Albanian port / Albania / Areas / Homepage - Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso - Transeuropa 07/06/2016 - Fabrizio Polacco A huge, double-headed bronze eagle rising from the centre of the roundabout shows me I've reached Shesh Shqiponjë (Eagle Square), the coach terminal. Following a few days in the Albanian capital, Tirana, I'm curious to see another, more ancient city with a rich history, that is Durrës.

People arriving by plane in the “Country of the Eagles” (Shqipëria, the official name for Albania) land not far from Tirana and, as they drop down, see a broad green valley, bounded to the east by high, steep mountains – the first outposts of the complex Balkan chains – and to the west by pleasant, rolling hills. This is why the Albanian capital, though hardly forty kilometres from the coast, has an almost continental feeling and climate. One's first visit to Albania, however, should begin in the bay of Durres, which has always been the true entrance to the country – a port on the Adriatic sea, or “port in Illyria”, as it was called during its long, fascinating history. As the coach approaches the sea, its seats taken up by students and commuters rather than tourists, in my mind I retrace what I expect from this visit to Durres on the basis of my reading: a Roman Amphitheatre, an Archaeological Museum and a Byzantine Forum.

The Rruga Egnatia in Durres (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) However the difference between a virtual journey and the real one is, above all, the surprise; and my first, small surprise happens when, on arrival, leaving the coach and crossing the first street, I read a white road sign at the junction saying Rruga Egnatia: the ancient Roman road linking Italy and the West with the Orient which continues via Thessaloniki through to Constantinople. For those who over the centuries disembarked on the quays of this still busy port (85% of the country's imports and exports pass through here), it was a continuation of Via Appia Antica across the Adriatic. For me, born where the Via Appia starts, at the gates of Ancient Rome, it's almost like extending my teenage walks on long summer afternoons on the other side of the sea. Durres (known in antiquity as Epidamnus or Dyrhacchium) was one of two starting points for this vital artery of the Empire; the other was Apollonia, some sixty kilometres to the south.

But, while today Apollonia is just an archaeological site, Durres, as I see and hear finally around me, still teems untidily with life and commercial activity. Not for nothing was it once called in jest the “Adriatic tavern”, a definition given it by the poet Catullus – famed for his “thousand kisses” to Lesbia – one who knew about the good life. And the Roman playwright Plautus made this the setting for a curious event in which two Sicilian identical twins, separated in their infancy without ever being reunited, meet unbeknownst to each other in the area near the port, thus giving rise to an entertaining “comedy of errors”, the title used by Shakespeare when he recycled the story. In short, here in Durres numerous travellers, sea-farers and traders from all over, that is the West and the East, encountered each other. Or, sometimes, they parted company. As when Caesar began his decisive duel with Pompey from here – an exhausting game of chess fought by the two armies between the sea and the long promontory parallel to the coast on the crest of which today's city was founded.

Or, again, after Theodosio's death (395 A.D.), when the Roman Empire split definitively into two parts, the eastern and western, the demarcation line passed just to the north of Durres. Which was the beginning of that separation into two Europes, the East and the West, which quickly became the division between the Orthodox and the Catholic, between the Greek-Eastern-Slav world and the Latin-Western world – a break which efforts are still being made to repair today. Through projects like TransEuropean Corridor 8, for instance, which should link the “heel of Italy” with the Black Sea, its Balkan route starting here at the ancient port of Dyrhacchium. All of this, obviously, only if Europe doesn't fall to pieces once more, rather like it did at the death of Theodosius. But, to come back to our crossroads, no-one is really certain that it is the street with this name, jammed with cars I'm trying to get past, that was the course of the ancient Egnatia.

One theory is, on the contrary, that, though beginning in the city, it was at a point nearer to the sea where one of the most interesting archaeological remains in Durres is to be found – the Forum or Byzantine “Macellum”. When I get there I find this too was a kind of junction-roundabout, encircled however by columns, most of which even now gleam slim and silent between blocks of flats and offices, right behind the square of the Bashkia (Town Hall), now the “drawing room” of modern Durres. Durres, the Roman Amphitheatre (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) The town centre lies at the foot of the southern spur of the promontory Durres was built on, with its steep slope exploited by the Romans to build what some held to be the largest amphitheatre in the Balkans, with the major axis of its ellipse being 120 metres. This Albanian “Colosseum” is the first place I visit, following the pavement along the present-day Egnatia then cutting across the Town Hall Square, paved in stone and refined by modern fountains.

Unlike other amphitheatres that we are used to in Italy and the remote provinces of the Empire, only part of this one was constructed with a wall, since almost all its northern hemicycle abutted on the rocky incline of the promontory. Today it is a sort of peaceful oasis in the middle of the busy city, easy to visit and open on holidays as was the day on which I arrived. Here too, a surprise: the surrounding houses do not, as they seem to do in old photos, reach right up to its steps, but crown it in quite a pleasant way. The part which has been almost completely lost, however, is its upper circuit on the southern side where it dips towards the sea. While I explore in the shade the tunnels serving the great Roman edifice, half walled and half dug out of the rock below the ancient stone tiers, I pause to admire the mosaics dating from before the year 1,000 in a small Byzantine church which, making use of the abandoned structure, had been inserted into its imposing ruins.

The frontal faces and wide-open eyes of the dignitaries, angels and saints, seem to welcome visitors unperturbed, taking them back to a transcendent, timeless faith. Some tombs of the period show that the site, as was common then in holy places, was also used as a cemetery. Mosaic in the Byzantine chapel of the Durres Amphiteatre (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) When I get back to the open air of the arena, my attention is drawn to a mighty circular tower rising above the hemicycle, well above the row of houses, topped by railings through which some youngsters dangle their legs while looking at the view. Today is a school holiday and, against the sky, those students on their day off look carefree out in the wind and sun – which finally has begun to shine after my first days spent in continental Tirana. Sightseeing tower on the ancient Durres fortress (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) I suppose that from up there one really dominates the city with a glance, as Aristotle in his Politics stated that a Greek polis worthy of this name should be embraced.

This meant not only dominate in a glance – and thus control from the acropolis – the built-up area and the countryside, but also to be able to know personally and directly, given the reduced size of the Greek city-state, all its citizens. Therefore, continued the philosopher, to be better able to discuss with them freely and alternate in power – these were the first forms of self-government in history. “Embrace with a glance” the ancient Epidaurum, a Greek colony founded between 628 and 624 B.C., proves harder for me than I thought. Even if the tower looked close to the amphitheatre, there is no direct street or stairway. The small houses which have sprung up all over the slopes of the citadel have privatized all access and, only after several fruitless tries, do I find someone to show me the right way: a paved road with a wide bend takes me up to where I have the tower behind me. The passer-by who gives me the information then hands me on to a group of local youths on their way up there, at least that's what I understand in broken English.

The climb is steep, confirming those etymologies that gave it the name Dyrhacchium as connected to the Ancient Greek rhachia, stony, rocky shore, thence “rachis”- a protrusion or backbone. We come to the bend where we turn to approach the edge of the hill top, and there, gaining access to our view point, I realise that the road continues on the other side, directly to another spectacular point on the promontory, the one boasting the elegant Liberty residence built by King Zog, who had to hand over Albania to the Italians in 1939. The long climb is rewarded when, faithfully following my casual escorts, I reach the top of the coveted tower. At that point the whole city and sweeping gulf on which it was founded are at my feet. My gaze takes in nearly 360° and I am amazed at the beauty before me. The skyscrapers built over the last ten years, in a disorderly manner and expressing bizarre architectural fantasies, fail to hide the extraordinary basis of the ancient foundations. A broad bay on the Adriatic, a safe harbour, an easy-to-defend acropolis and a little fertile countryside around, crossed by a small river.

The typical topography of the ancient Hellenic colonies. But it must be said that the Ancient Greeks did not build on nothing: before them the Illyrians were here. They were a people made up of many tribes (the streets of Durres record their name as well as that of the Taulantii), fierce and warlike but at the same time prepared to merge and trade with the new arrivals who, as often happens with the present refugees, were nearly all male. And present day Albanians are proud to recall that they are not, like their immediate neighbours, Slavs, nor even Greeks, but, more or less directly, Illyrians. In the Archaeological Museum, built near the sea front in 2002 (in Taulanti street, to be precise) marble gravestones with names as symbols on the tombs can be seen. They are all written in Ancient Greek: the Illyrians, like other Balkan peoples, did not have a written language, but the actual names are not at all Greek. So today we can pronounce the same sounds of over two thousand years ago in the various Plator, Eortais, Boiken, Teuta. . .

My young companions now tell me their names too, with that great variety of different ethnic and linguistic origins that one finds today on Albanian identity cards. They have, at last, taken great bottles of beer out of their bags, and they offer me some, proposing an unexpected toast here above the land and sea of Albania, unconsciously paying homage to the affectionate nickname for this town, the Tavern of the Adriatic. They tell me about the surrounding places, the ancient and modern buildings; they show me with pride a vast Albanian flag flapping above a nearby crag and won't give up until I take its photo. Using expressions more suited to football fans than politics, they tell me they would not support either their neighbouring Serbs nor the Greeks. Durres (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) Certainly, like their immediate neighbours, Albanians are not lacking in national pride, a pride sometimes bordering on fervent nationalism. Here at Durres, it must not be forgotten, the first Regnum Albaniae was founded in 1272, proclaimed by Charles of Anjou.

This event officially produced a name: Arberia (then Albania) which we also find in the name of the language Arbëreshëwhich is still spoken by the “historic” Albanians living in southern Italy for centuries, having come as refugees after the death of Skanderberg, hero of the anti-Ottoman resistance. I take my leave of my young companions, as they continue their celebrations, and I descend towards the sea via what is left of the Byzantine, then Venetian and finally Ottoman walls. Five-sided turrets alternate with great circular towers at the salient points. It was said that the ancient medieval walls of Durres were so thick and resistant that four armed horsemen, could ride side by side easily on the bastions. Indeed, in this centre of the Adriatic, one of the first Roman emperors of the Eastern Empire was born, one who knew about systems of defence – Anastasius I, who built a wall sixty kilometres long on the Thracian peninsula furthest to the east, in order to protect the imperial capital, Constantinople, from the barbarians. As I come to the sea front, despite the cold wind from the northwest, I find a more relaxed atmosphere, almost with a holiday feel.

Beyond that marine horizon the port of Brindisi is, as ancient geographers wrote, “a thousand stadions” away. It would seem a lot, but, thinking that an ancient “stadion” corresponds to approximately 180-190 metres, the distance a sprinter runs in a few seconds, one understands how so much history passed through here. And these kilometres, seen from above in an aeroplane, really seem just a small jump, a handful of minutes from the heel of Italy, a little east of Brindisi and a little north of the Salento region. Two hefty warriors in cement fighting a duel on the esplanade, representing who knows which contest in Illyrian history, accommodate on their pedestal a family picnic. Vendors of coloured balloons, kites flying in the air, electric cars for children and many groups of adolescents enjoying the evening stroll on their day off, wander past the cafés and restaurants of the seafront which have dared to put out the first tables for a season about to begin.

Modern sculpture on the Durres promenade, "Vollga" (photo by Fabrizio Polacco) Here in Greek Epidaurum, 2,400 years ago, a banal political dispute between aristocrats and democrats – who evidently were not able to “alternate in power” - degenerated, firstly into a civil war, then into respective requests for military assistance to the two mother-countries – Corfu and Corinth. Seeing that neither party prevailed, further help was requested from the respective, even more powerful allies – Athens and Sparta. Thus began a general conflict lasting nearly thirty years, written of in history books as the Peloponnese war. The war which signed the death warrant for Athens and, in essence, the decline of the classical world. Impressions, memories, past and present accumulate and interlace inextricably while strolling with a light, springtime heart through the streets of Durres. I commenti, nel limite del possibile, vengono vagliati dal nostro staff prima di essere resi pubblici. Il tempo necessario per questa operazione può essere variabile.

Vai alla nostra policy Durres on the Adriatic | albanian news Albania Scandal December 28, 2008 — franksupa A controversy tied to a massive road project deals a blow to Prime Minister Berisha’s promise to rid Albania of endemic corruption The road linking Albania and Kosovo stretches 234 kilometers, a mountainous, pot-holed coil connecting two of Europe’s poorest countries. The drive normally takes about seven hours, with the speedometer rarely topping 40. “During the winter the road is a tough cookie to crack,” says Gjergj Erebara, a Tirana-based editor and political commentator. “Parts of it are often icy, which makes it pretty dangerous considering that you are taking curves 800 meters up in the mountains.” That is all expected to changed by the end of 2009, when a new four-lane highway from Durres on the Adriatic coast into Kosovo is slated for completion.

Albania’s largest public-works project in decades, the new road is expected to strengthen already deep ties (more than 90 percent of Kosovo’s population of 2 million is of Albanian descent) and ease travel for the hundreds of thousands of Kosovars who cross the border on summer holidays. Analysts have dubbed it the “patriotic highway” owing to the widely perceived political motive for the project, pointing to the lack of a feasibility study into whether it will return the money invested. It was expected to be the crown jewel among electoral assets for Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s right-wing coalition heading into next year’s parliamentary balloting. Instead it has turned into the government’s biggest headache. In late November, following a 17-month investigation, Prosecutor General Ina Rama indicted Foreign Minister Lulzim Basha on charges that he abused his office in connection with the tender for the highway. Prosecutors say the deal with American-Turkish consortium Bechtel-Enka to build the most challenging portion of the road, 61 kilometers from Rreshen to Kalimash, has cost the country hundreds of millions of euros.

Albania’s Supreme Court accepted the case, rejecting arguments by Basha’s lawyers and the government that the prosecution is unconstitutional. Rama was voted in by the current parliamentary majority after her predecessor was fired for a poor showing against organized crime, but her corruption probes into senior officials have put off many of her onetime backers, including Berisha. The government has lashed back with a campaign many of its critics, including some U.S. and European Union officials, call unconstitutional. RISING COSTS, CONSPIRACY THEORIES Albania’s Transparency International ranking as the most corrupt state in the Balkans notwithstanding, the country’s highest officials have up till now remained formally unscathed. Basha is the first sitting minister to be indicted since Albania emerged from communist rule in 1991. The charges stem from his tenure as transport minister from 2005 to 2007. Prosecutors maintain that Basha and his then-chief legal aide, Andi Toma, illegally favored Bechtel-Enka.

They allege the minister allowed construction to begin before there was a finished blueprint for the work and, in breach of Albanian law and regulations for public tenders, accepted a much higher price per work unit than was charged for similar projects. The price tag for the Bechtel-Enka work, which covers a little more than a third of the highway’s full length, has leaped from 416 million euros in the initial contract to more than 1 billion euros, according to prosecution filings. Prosecution experts and the state supreme auditing office say the Transport Ministry’s actions cost Albanian taxpayers 114 million euros—232 million euros if the costs are calculated in comparison with sections of the road being built by other companies. In 2006 and 2007 Bechtel-Enka registered a profit of more than 44 percent on the project, netting 67 million euros on work orders of 151 million euros. Basha and Toma have denied any wrongdoing. Basha contends the charges against him were fabricated by opposition Socialist leader Edi Rama (no relation to the chief prosecutor) and opponents of the highway out to sabotage the project.

In a recent press conference he accused opposition members of working on Serbia’s behalf to scuttle the road link with Kosovo. Edi Rama and his mercenaries have sabotaged the road for eight years,” Basha said, calling the opposition leader the political heir of Koci Xoxe, a communist-era minister executed as a Serbian spy in 1949. The Socialists dismiss Basha’s charges and have called on him to resign. “This indicted minister is trying politicize the charges against him, doing terrible damage to Albania’s and Kosovo’s image,” Socialist parliamentarian Arta Dade said. “An indicted minister cannot represent Albanian diplomacy.” INVESTIGATING THE INVESTIGATORS Ina Rama was named prosecutor general in November 2007, the first woman to hold the post. The 36-year-old was previously a judge on the Appeals Court of Serious Crimes. Her appointment came after President Bamir Topi, a former deputy in Berisha’s Democratic Party, dismissed former Chief Prosecutor Theodhori Sollaku at the urging of a parliamentary commission, which took Sollaku to task for failing to crack down on organized crime.

A month before his ouster Sollaku had filed a request with parliament to lift Basha’s immunity from prosecution. A promise to rid Albania of endemic corruption was a centerpiece of ex-President Berisha’s “Clean Hands” platform when he returned to power in 2005, but opponents claim the problem has only worsened—a view seemingly shared by the public. In a March 2008 survey by the Institute for Development and Research Alternatives, 92 percent of Albanians said corruption was widespread among public officials, an 8-point jump from the previous year. The Basha prosecution is not the only case fueling such views. Former Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu is under investigation in connection with the March explosion at an army depot outside Tirana that killed 26 people, wounded more than 300, and left some 3,000 homeless. He has also been linked to a suspect arms deal with a Miami-based company to supply the Afghan military.

Another senior official, tax office chief Arben Sefgjini, is on trial for murder in connection with the torture and killing of a Macedonian businessman in 1995, when Sefgjini headed the Tirana office of Albania’s secret service. Berisha, while voicing support for the fight against corruption, is also backing a new law to more strictly regulate the office of the prosecutor general. The measure would strip prosecutors of their protection against a police arrest without a formal indictment and limit their independence by allowing the Justice Ministry to probe their investigations. The bill has come in for criticism from interest groups, the opposition, and the United States for limiting the prosecutor general’s independence, which is guaranteed by the Albanian Constitution. Rama has found a strong ally in U.S. Ambassador John Withers, who has repeatedly condemned Berisha’s moves against her office. “Her responsibilities are not only to investigate some of the most difficult and controversial cases that Albania has known, but in a larger and more profound sense, to make a profound contribution to the building of Albanian democracy through defending the independence of her institution and of the judiciary in general against political pressure,” Withers said in October.

“When the history of Albanian democracy is written, there will be a special chapter in it for people like Ina Rama.” Albania’s NATO ambitions have received strong backing from Washington, with President George Bush voicing his support on an historic visit in June. U.S. lobbying was critical in ensuring Albania received an invitation to NATO’s April summit in Bucharest. Withers has explicitly linked actions targeting the prosecutor to Albania’s democratic credibility. “I frankly see no legitimate reason for the government or the parliament to make these moves,” he said. “My advice, and that of my government, is to let the prosecutors do their job as the independent actors that they are.” EU ambassadors in Tirana also condemned the government’s moves, saying in a joint statement that they “are troubled by recent developments concerning the judicial system in Albania.” Rama has assured her office she will stand firm. “We will resist with determination any kind of pressure,” she said.

“Our only protection is the law.” this article source is from : Durrës - Memidex dictionary/thesaurus Durrës port city in western Albania on the Adriatic Class: Durrës (Coordinates: 41.317°N 19.450°E) the second largest city of Albania located on the central Albanian coast, about 33 km west of the capital Tirana. It's one of the most ancient and economically significant cities of Albania. Durrës is situated at one of the narrower points of the... Durres - definition of Durres by The Free Dictionary Durres - definition of Durres by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Related to Durres: Durresi Dur·rës (do͝or′əs) A city of western Albania on the Adriatic Sea. Founded as a Greek colony c. 625 bc, it is the country's chief seaport. Durrës (ˈdurrəs) n (Placename) a port in W Albania, on the Adriatic. Pop: 114 000 (2003 est).

Italian name: Duraz Ancient names: Epidamnus or Dyrrachium Dur•rës a seaport in W Albania, on the Adriatic: important ancient city. 217,000. Italian, Durazzo. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Durazzo Albania , Republic of Albania - a republic in southeastern Europe on the Adriatic coast of the Balkan Peninsula Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content . Link to this page: Reconstruction of Quays 7 & 8 at the Port of Durres KUWAIT, Sept 15 (KUNA) -- Embassy of Kuwait in the Republic of Albania has provided school bags containing all the school needs to the students of "Kuwait school" in Gjepalaj in the western Albanian Province of Durres on the occasion of the start of the first day of the academic year 2015-2016.

Albania Property Group Launching a New Website Within the framework of his visit, President Ivanov also met Albanian Parliament Speaker Ilir Meta, Prime Minister Edi Rama, Tirana Mayor and opposition leader Lulzim Basha and the Head of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Archbishop Anastasios of Tirana, Durres and All Albania. Excellent infrastructure A tug was said to be trying to tow it to the nearby Albanian port of Durres. WE'LL BURN LIKE RATS; RACE TO SAVE 287 TRAPPED ON BLAZE FERRY; One dead as terrified passengers plead for rescue in raging storm Last night, a tug was attempting to tow the ferry to the nearby Albanian port of Durres. WE'LL BURN LIKE RATS; TRAPPED RACE ON TO SAVE 300 FROM BLAZING FERRY; Britons among passengers on board packed Greek ship as bad weather hampers attempts to rescue them Simply because of the lion for which it is said that is not an ethnic element of the Albanians even if it has been used in the past symbols of Tirana, Valona and Durres but we forget that it is not a Macedonian symbol either.

World Investment News - The Very First Investment News Company on the Web World Investment News - The Very First Investment News Company on the Web World Investment News - The Very First Investment News Company on the Web Europe : Albania : Durres Port Authority Name of company L1 Rruga “Tregtare “ Nr 2, Durres, Albania Phone Transport History: DURRES Port, located only 39 kilometers from Tirana (the capital), is the most important seaport in Albania and the a principal gateway to the Balkans and southeastern Europe. It is the most ancient town of the country. The city was colonized by the Greeks in 727 BC. In the VI-VII centuries BC the Illyrians knew it under the name Epidamnos. Three centuries later the ancient Roman renamed it Dyrrachium (the town between two hills). About the year 146 BC the Romans built Via Egnatia, which passed through Dyrrachium , to link Rome with Byzantium (Istanbul). Segments of this road are still extant today. There has always been a port in Durres.

It has existed since ancient times, and due to its natural position it has witnessed its growth and development and has become the biggest sea-port of Albania. Overview : Durres Port Authority The Port of Durres is the principle port in Albania, handling roughly 90 per cent of the country’s international maritime trade tonnage and 85 % of all the export and import trade of the country. The actual level of traffic is about 3 ,8 million tons per year. Today Port is managed by Port Authority, that’s mean the legal entity which represents the public interest and perform the administration of the public property, defined by Law, and which is established to exercise its powers and duties within the public ports in the Republic of Albania. The port is owned by the state and is controlled by the Ministry of Public Works, Transports and Telecommunications through the Sea Transport Directorate and it is managed and operated by the DPA – (Durres Port Authority). The harbor is well sheltered by land and breakwaters to the east and west, and it has an easy access from the sea. All these attributes provide excellent safety conditions for ships calling the port. It provides a wide variety of operating and cargo services.

It serves as the principal gateway to the Pan-European Route 8 corridor through the Balkans and serves to a region of about 40 million inhabitants and encompasses Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia and parts of Bulgaria and Rumania. The port has a basin of 670,000 square km, a general surface area of 1.2 million square m and berth depths varying from 7.4 to 11 meters. The land to quay ration is 3.5 ha per 100 linear meters of quay. With 2.2 km of operational quays and specialized 11 berths, the Port of Durres is capable of handling a variety of bulk, general, container, ferry and Ro-Ro services for cargo and passengers and heavy lift cargoes. The Ferry Terminal is capable of handling 5 ferries at one time and provides services to 800,000 passengers per year. The port offers approximately 243,000m2 of open storage area and 27,000m2 of covered storage including here 7,000m2 of new transit shed.

Turn over The turnover for 2008 has been 17 100 000 euro and for 2009 is expected to be about 18 200 000 euro Our vision: - To make the Port Authority fruitful and more oriented towards the market economy, to increase competition, to be economically developed through direct investments from the private sector, for the reduction of public expenses and port modernization. - To change the port from “a service port” into “a land lord port”, to increase the commercial independence of the port. - To bring port services and infrastructure nearer to the international practices, for equal standards between states. - To assure a high scale level of services, in order to fulfill the users’ needs at a reasonable cost. - To guarantee a high level security and environment protection. - To assure a high level of independence for the port management as well as for various port operators that carry out their services in the port. - To assure leasing or concession for some given facilities for port activity. - To coordinate the maritime activity and the transport system according to the standing legislation.

Our mission is to provide the shipping communities and port users with modern port facilities, operating systems, and administration to facilitate the efficient and secure transfer of their goods between maritime and land based transport systems at competitive rates. Operative Structure Port of Durres is a “Service-Tool Port”. The greater part of cargo handling activity, mainly general cargo, is carried out by two private stevedoring companies. The rest, mainly bulk cargo, is carried out by the stevedoring sector of Port of Durres Authority. The Port of Durres is the largest economic generator in Albania. It’s direct, indirect, and tertiary impacts are felt throughout the country. It directly employs 600 persons. Indirectly, however, it creates thousands of jobs in the transportation, distribution, and banking industries. Challenges Today the port is going through a period of major change as Albania adjusts to a new economic reality. It no longer functions in a captive, one dimensional, command driven world. To survive it must be able to successfully compete in an global, dynamic, rapidly changing market place where competition is fierce and unrelenting. Our port had been designed for a different era of commerce and technology which has disappeared throughout much of the globe.

Now, we must compete in a world of containers, just in time delivery, economies of scale, rapid discharge systems, high security, computerization, and global communications. Substantial investments are being made to change the Port of Durres into a really competitive port. Il last two years the DPA has invest more than 30 million euro in Infrastructure Works such are the new Ferry Terminal Building; yards and secondary roads, valued 19 million Euros(to be finished in December 2009). Quay and yards rehabilitation valued 10 million euro is in tender phase, More than 10 million euro are invested in SUPERSTRUCTURE WORKS, such as procurement of a 65 ton capacity mobile harbor mobile crane , reconstruction of two general cargo cranes, procurement of brand new Tug masters ,container handling equipments; work safety equipments etc. Deep in the heart and psychic of all shippers using the Port of Durres five years ago were the fear of losing their cargo as it passes the night in the port. We shared their fears. The Durres port in 2005 was black listed in IMO and US Coast guard reports regarding the security issues.

From Jan 3rd 2006 Durrës Port Security Force (D.P.S.F) started exercising its mission. Recently D.P.A has completed the project of “Port Security System Implementation in Compliance With the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code” financed by DPA own funds valued at 3 million euro .The projects include the full CCTV, CCTV Perimeter Vehicle Monitoring Access Control System, Gates, barriers and turnstiles, Screening equipment, Security control room , Identity & access cards , Port alarm system, stuff training etc. The last report of US Coast guard of august 2009 qualify the Durres Port secure and safe, ready to apply for ISPS compliant. We have two primary goals for our near term development. These are: 1. To privatize the port’s operating functions such as stevedoring, equipment operation, and specialized terminals and become primarily a landlord organization focused on the development of a modern, efficient port in accordance with the principles of Albania’s national transportation policy. 2. To develop port facilities, services, and operating efficiencies at competitive costs in accordance with normal international standards and practices. Our principal objectives for privatization are as follows: 1.

To implement a new port law that confers the exclusive responsibility for port management, operations and development to the PDA who will then be held accountable as the port’s landlord for the planning and development of the port and for organizing the services provided to its users. 2. To fully privatize stevedoring and related services including the ship to shore handling of cargo, the operation and management of warehouses, the loading or discharge of inland transport vehicles in the port, the management and operation of specialized cargo handling facilities such as container terminals, intermodal yards, distribution centers, grain and cement silos, and liquid bulk facilities. Our objectives for developing the port’s infrastructure, facilities, and services are to: 1. Remove old facilities that impede current operations and develop modern facilities and operations designed to achieve basic international standards of throughput efficiency. 2. To develop a computerized management information system to allow the port to accurately measure port performance in a real time environment. 3. To develop an automated security check-in system for passenger and vehicle calling ferry terminal. 4. To adopt an indirect cargo discharge system for the handling of general cargo using transit warehouses to speed up operations. 5. To develop the container terminal to tie the port into the global container transport and distribution network. 6.

To develop other specialized cargo handling facilities as part of a public/private partnership. 7. To dredge the basin and the channel to a minimum operating depth respectively 11.5 and 12.5 meters and use the dredge material to create new land for the future growth of the port. 8. To create a new tariff that provides incentives to shippers to employ larger more modern vessels to increase economies of scale and cargo handling efficiencies. The projects enumerated above form the foundation of our strategy for achieving these goals and objectives. Each project addresses a specific problem and is designed to achieve certain objectives that will allow the port to attain its duel goals of increasing port operating efficiency and providing our customers with new or improved services.

Question: Durres is the chief port of which European country?
Answer: Albania